A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter! Enjoy!

edited on october 29th, 2020 @ 1:36am

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CHAPTER FIVE - PRACTICE MATCH WITH SEIJOH

THE NEXT DAY AT SCHOOL, everyone gathered in the gym, sitting on the ground as they listened to Daichi who was telling them about their positions for the practice match. "Now, concerning the positions for the practice match... I think this is how we'll do it." He said as he showed them the board that he held.

Rei looked at the board to see that he was libero. Then, he noticed that Hinata was in a position for tall people.

"I want to use Kageyama and Hinata as a set, and Tsukishima is one of our few tall players. I want to see how you'll fight against Seijoh." Daichi informed.

"Yes." Tsukishima replied with boredom.

"You're using Hinata where height matters?" Tanaka questioned.

"Middle Blocker? I'm in the same position as the lanky jerk Tsukishima?" Hinata exclaimed. Rei chuckled a little at his words as Tsukishima gave Hinata an annoyed look.

"Oh, j-just a second. Can I read up on the positions?" Takeda asked, reading a volleyball book.

"Setter: The control tower that tosses for spikes and organizes the offense. Wing Spiker: An all-round, well-balanced player who attacks the core of the opponents. Middle Blocker: He defends against the opponents offense, and scores points. Mainly using "quick." Furthermore, he plays the decoy to draw the opponents blockers away. Libero: is a player specialized in defensive skills. The libero must wear a contrasting jersey color from his or her teammates and cannot block or attack the ball when it is entirely above net height. When the ball is not in play, the libero can replace any back-row player, without prior notice to the officials." Takeda reads before looking over at Daichi.

"Would you say these are right?" He asked.

"For now, those are all." Daichi replied with a gentle smile.

"Listen, Hinata... you're the ultimate decoy." Kageyama announced making Hinata yell in amazement.

"The ultimate... decoy?" Hinata exclaimed but he didn't seem to like how that sounded. "There's something uninspiring about that."

"Big guys like Saltyshima will fall like idiots to your movements... that'll feel good, won't it?" Rei grinned. There was an annoyed and questioning look on Tsukishima's face.

"I like it. I like it a lot." Hinata agreed.

"Hey. Are you calling Tsukki an idiot?" Yamaguchi exclaimed.

"Shut up, Yamaguchi." Tsukishima hissed.

"Sorry, Tsukki." Yamaguchi apologized.

"On the other hand, if you're not effective, know that the other attacks will all fail." Kageyama stated bluntly, pressuring the orange haired male.

"Hey... don't put so much pressure on him." Daichi whispered.

"All fail... All fail.. All fail."

Daichi widened his eyes. "You see?" He stated to Kageyama.

"What about blocking though?" Tanaka asked. "Even if he can jump high, the taller players will reach the highest point of their jump faster."

"Yes, the reason we want Hinata to be the focus of blockers isn't to smack down the opponents spikes, but to touch them. With Hinata's crazy reflexes and speed, he can touch the opponents spikes, and slow down their momentum. We'll set the pace to our advantage and make our counterattack." Daichi explained.

"It's not gonna go smoothly right off the bat." Tanaka stated.

"It probably won't." Daichi agreed.

"Huh?"

"Right off the bat, anyway. But we should still try it." Daichi replied. "Maybe we'll learn something as we go along. It's a practice match, after all."

"Fine." Tanaka sighed.

"Anyways, for in-air battles, we've only got Tsukishima and Kageyama who can match Hinata's jumps. So Hinata, have confidence, and..." Daichi turned to Hinata as he got cut off by the orange haired male getting nervous.

"Yes! I'll do my best! I'll score lots of points. I'll be a decoy."

"I'll serve. Block. Quick. Everything." Hinata exclaimed. Daichi runs over and places his hand on the first years shoulders.

"Hey, hey, calm down!" Daichi panicked.

Suddenly, Hinata blew a fuse.

"He blew a fuse!"

"Hinata blew a fuse!"

Tanaka yells in panic.

Later, everyone else was in the club room as Rei waited outside, already dressed. "I didn't really think I'd meet one of them so soon." Rei thinks to himself, his black hair blowing in the wind.

Tanaka suddenly rushed out of the club room. "Hinata! You're wearing my pants!" He shouted. Hinata's pants were bigger and baggier.

"What are you doing, Tanaka? You pervert!" A girl from the tennis club exclaimed. "Are you stupid? You're the worst."

Tanaka paled at her as he quickly rushed back into the club room. Rei sighed to himself.

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Rei arrived at school, as him and the team had their jackets on. They had their bags packed and ready. In front of them, Takeda was in front of the bus. "Line up." Daichi ordered as they did so. They bowed to Takeda. "Let's play!" They all announced.

"Yes." Takeda smiled as everyone got on. Rei got on the bus, taking a free spot as he looked out the window.

"You okay?" Rei looked up to see Sugawara and Daichi taking the seat behind him.

"Yeah, just a little nervous I guess." Rei responded.

"Will you be alright for the match?" Daichi questioned.

"Yeah... yeah, I'll be fine." Rei replied.

The bus soon drove off as Rei had his earbuds in, music calming him down a little. He was just about to take a nap when Tanaka started yelling.

"Stop the bus!"

Rei jumped and looked over at him. "Well, this is worse than we expected..." He thought. Sugawara, Daichi, and Kageyama also looked at Tanaka. Hinata had puked on Tanaka's pants.

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Karasuno had finally arrived at Aoba Johsai. Hinata was apologizing to Tanaka for puking on his pants. Hinata went to the bathroom while Kageyama followed him.

Meanwhile, three Aoba Johsai players were talking about Kageyama and Karasuno. "Besides, all I know about Karasuno is that their manager is a beauty." Yahaba was saying, making Kindaichi look at him with interest.

"Are you serious?" Kindaichi asked.

"That's right. She's kind of sexy. Oh yeah, and there's a riffraff kind of guy there too. He's got a shaved head, and an unpleasant look in his eyes. He looks real stupid." Yahaba explained. They rounded the corner but stopped when they saw Tanaka had a scary look on his face.

Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Kageyama, and Rei also rounded the corner to see Kindaichi and Yahaba looking scared at Tanaka while the blonde with them had a blank look. "Um..." Yahaba commented, gulping a little.

"Don't underestimate us too much..." Tanaka warned.

CAWW!

The sound of a crow echoed, as the the sky looked darker and multiple crows flying in the back, making the Karasuno players look dangerous and intimidating. "...Or we'll eat you alive." Tanaka hissed, finishing his sentence.

The two Seijoh players shivered in fear. Tsukishima and Rei both noticed this as they smirked. "You shouldn't say things like that, Tanaka-san. Look what you did. You scared these poor elites. Now I feel sorry for them." Tsukishima said.

"Oh, let Tanaka-san have his fun. Besides..." Rei started to say as he glared at the two players, who flinched under his cold crystal blue eyes. "It'll be interesting to see if they can back up their shit talking."

"Oh, you're right. We should save our bullying for the match." Tanaka said. Daichi ended up catching up to them as he apologized to the three Seijoh players.

Rei had been relaxing his mind before the match, standing out in the hallway. "Shirocchi, how nice to see you again." He heard a voice say. He turned around and found Hayashi with his headphones hanging off of his white and turquoise vollleyball jacket.

"Haya-kun." Rei said without emotion in his voice.

"Emotionless as ever, Shirocchi." Hayashi stated as he used his finger to lift Rei's chin up. "I'll admit, I didn't imagine you'd go to a fallen powerhouse like Karasuno. I haven't seen you since you mysteriously disappeared right before junior high Nationals."

"I had my reasons, Haya-kun." Rei informed, slapping his hand away.

"Hmm.. My junior high Rei-chan isn't the same anymore. You used to love it whenever I made you look into my eyes." Hayashi said.

"That was back then, Haya-kun. I've changed." Rei told him.

"All right. I might as well be blunt. Come to Aoba Johsai with me, Shirocchi." Hayashi said. "You're talent will go to waste at Karasuno."

"I'll pass, Haya-kun. I met people who were nothing like you and the others, and we'll beat all of you. I swear it." Rei promised as he walked off.

"You're an interesting one, Shirocchi. But if you think you can beat him, you're wrong." Hayashi thinks to himself.

Soon enough, Rei followed his team into the gym as it was very big. He was wearing a red jersey with the letter L on both front and back. Hinata was acting more nervous as Tanaka was pressuring him. He ended up having to go to the bathroom again.

"Tanaka-san, you pressured him again." Rei said. Tanaka said nothing as he went off to go find Hinata.

"We will now begin the practice match between Karasuno High School versus Aoba Johsai High School." The announcer spoke up.

"Let's play."

The match began as Hinata was still shaking like a leaf. Soon enough, Aoba Johsai was ahead, and it was time for Hinata's serve.

"He can't do this... He's completely overwhelmed..." Rei thinks to himself.

Hinata ended up smacking the ball right to Kageyama's head, making everyone silent and stare at the first-year setter. Rei sighed as he had enough of Hinata's nerves.

"Hinata-kun!" He said, getting the orange haired male's attention as well as the his team and Aoba Johsai. "Listen to me because I'm only gonna say this once!"

"In volleyball, everybody on this side of the net is your ally." Rei said as he gestured to Kageyama, Tsukishima, Daichi, Tanaka, and himself. "It doesn't matter if you're lousy. It doesn't matter if you're a nuisance. You can slow us down. That's okay. But to make up for those things... that's why we have our team and our senpais." Rei declared.

"Oh!"

Hayashi smirked from the other side of the net. "Seems like you've spoken from your heart, Shirocchi." He thought.

The game continued as Iwaizumi saved the ball that Hinata served.

"Hayashi!" Yahaba shouted as Hayashi jumped up to spike.

Rei quickly followed the ball. "Oshiro, cover!" Tanaka shouted.

"I got it!" Rei yelled as he received the ball, making it go towards Kageyama.

Karasuno finally won a set as they celebrated. "Oshiro, you okay?" Kageyama asked, noticing him distraught.

"Seijoh's setter..." Rei muttered. "I have a feeling he's not their official setter."

"You noticed it too, huh?" Kageyama stated. He was about to say something else but was cut off by girls screaming.

"Oikawa, you're back." Seijoh's coach greeted.

"That's their official setter..." Rei thinks to himself.

"Oikawa-san, welcome back." Hayashi greeted the third-year.

"Thanks, Haya-chan. I hope you've been holding the fort down while I was gone." Oikawa said.

"Of course, Oikawa-san."

The match continued as Oikawa was subbed in and Kunimi was taken out. He noticed what Daichi had done. "Hmm.. So the captain, expert at receiving, is expanding the defence... However, you can't defend by yourself." Oikawa stated, spiking the ball down, aiming it near the edge.

"He's aimed it near the edge." Takeda said.

"But he sacrificed some of his power to get that accuracy." Sugawara added.

Rei used his misdirection as he disappeared. A flash of black hair appeared in front of Oikawa's eyes. He almost gasped as Rei appeared and quickly save the ball, leaving everyone in the gym with shocked faces while Karasuno just grinned.

"Bastard, who said anything about him being alone?" Rei stated. "I'm here too! So bring it on, pretty boy!"

"What the heck?"

"Was that guy always on the court?"

"He just appeared out of thin air and received Oikawa-san's serve like it was nothing!"

"This must be Haya-chan's junior high teammate that he was telling us about." Oikawa thought. "So a school like Karasuno managed to get a former Jindai player?"

Soon enough, Karasuno had won. They all headed out of Aoba Johsai. "Takeda-sensei complimented us, but frankly, if we're facing Seijoh and Oikawa in an official match, we'd be lacking." Daichi stated.

"Lacking? Oh, he means players." Rei thinks to himself.

"Spoken like a true captain. You know your stuff." Oikawa spoke as he turned to them with a smirk on his face.

Tanaka makes a scary look, as Yamaguchi and Hinata look like they want to fight Oikawa as Tsukishima just watched with an annoyed look.

"The Great King makes his entrance."

Tanaka walks closer with Hinata hiding behind him.

"You got a problem, dude?"

"What do you want?"

"Wanna fight, huh?"

"Wanna fight, huh?"

Rei face palmed and shook his head at the two as Oikawa looked amused. "Don't be so hostile. You little one." Oikawa spoke before gesturing to Hinata, who flinched. "Your last one touch and broad attack was amazing."

"Oh..." Hinata said.

"Let's give it all we got next time, right from the start. You didn't get to see our set up. We'll be improving our serves too, and you haven't seen Haya-chan's true power. Oh, yes, we snatched one of the Inhumane Players too." Oikawa said. "It's true, your offense is amazing, but your receives are slow. Well, except for your libero. But even he will reach his limit very quickly. I'm not the only one who hits powerful serves. The Inter-High preliminaries are coming up soon. Don't get eliminated, okay?"

"Because I..." He started to say as he points to Kageyama. "Want to pulverise my dear underclassman, setter-on-setter, in an official match."

"Don't bother them, Oikawa-san." A new voice startled the Karasuno players as Rei mentally groaned.

"We haven't formally met. I'm Hayashi Shou, one of the Inhumane Players." The blonde greeted. "Oikawa-san makes a valid point. You haven't seen what I can do yet."

Hayashi looked at Rei. "Frankly, I don't understand why Shirocchi would choose to go to such a school that lost their status. It's no matter though. If you can't bring out his real power, then you're weak in my eyes."

Sugawara held Tanaka back from doing something he would regret. "There's not much time until the tournament. I'll be looking forward to seeing you there." Oikawa finished as both him and Hayashi walked off.

"Don't let him get to you. He likes to razz people like that." Kageyama said to Daichi.

"Same with Haya-kun. He's just doing that to be plain annoying." Rei added.

"It's true. We don't have much time left before the Inter-High preliminaries, but he should be coming back soon." Daichi stated. Rei raised an eyebrow.

"He?" Rei questioned in his head.

"Who's coming back?" Hinata asked.

"The Guardian Deity of Karasuno." Daichi replied.

"Another member, huh? Interesting..." Rei thought.

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A/N: Another chapter done! Hope you enjoyed!

Word Count: 2515 words.